1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag device including a cylinder-shaped inflator and an airbag, and more specifically, relates to an airbag device whose inflator is connected with the airbag by having its end portion with gas discharge ports inserted into a tubular inlet port of the airbag.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-225913 discloses an airbag device in the prior art whose cylinder-shaped inflator is connected with the airbag by having its end portion with gas discharge ports inserted into a tubular inlet port of the airbag.
To secure safety during transportation and so on, in this airbag device, the gas discharge ports are arranged radially in an outer circumference of a discharge side end portion, so that inflation gas is discharged in directions perpendicular to an axial direction of the inflator and thrust force of the inflator (a force to move the inflator) is cancelled, even if inflation gas is unexpectedly discharged from gas discharge ports before the inflator is connected to the airbag.
However, with this construction, the inflator has to be inserted into a tubular inlet port of the airbag to be connected with the airbag so that the gas discharge ports on the outer circumference of the end portion may not be closed. In this relation, conventionally, a bottomed cylindrical diffuser is connected to the inflator end portion having the gas discharge ports. The diffuser is provided on its end face with gas outlet ports, and is covered over the gas discharge ports of the inflator for redirecting inflation gas discharged from the discharge ports to flow along the axial direction of the inflator. Thus inflation gas discharged from the gas discharge ports of the inflator is redirected within the diffuser and flows out of the end face of the diffuser along the axial direction of the inflator.
Accordingly, it was necessary in an airbag device in the prior art to connect a diffuser to an inflator before connecting the inflator to an airbag, and after such a work, to connect the inflator to the airbag by covering the diffuser with a gas inlet port of the airbag and fasten it by a clamp, which increased assembling processes of the airbag device.